Psychiatric Epidemiologist Investigating Stress
Although occupation of Korea came to an end, 1945, the 40 year repressive Japanese regime was soon replaced by Russian occupation and communism, the spoils of World War II. This is the troubling scenario into which Samuel Noh was born, 1946. Fleeing North Korean oppression, the young Noh family migrated to South Korea, settling, Seoul, 1947. Soon the Korean War (1950-53) engulfed their lives. Young Sam lost his father, an uncle, and grandfather in this nasty conflict. He, his mother and sister, for 10 years, lived in a refugee camp-like postwar housing project. When it was time for young Samand his sister to pursue serious education, the fatherless family returned to Seoul where Sam enrolled at Yonsei University. Deciding that a better life awaited him across the ocean, Sam Noh and his beautiful bride, Kyoung, immigrated to Canada, 1971, settling in Toronto. With $600 to his name, a pregnant wife, and no knowledge of English – only high hopes – the only job he could find was working as a labourer at a disposable diaper factory. He also learned that immigrants carried with them loads of stress and had difficulty coping, in general, with a new environment. Recognizing the need to get more education, between 1973-84 Sam attended University of Western Ontario, receiving his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Sociology and his Ph.D. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. A Senior Research Scientist, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, and Associate Professor, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Dr. Noh, today, is widely recognized and cited for his significant contribution to stress processes through which experienced stress is manifested as either physical or mental pathology. This formula has made Dr. Noh one of a select few who are professionally called psychiatric epidemiologists in that they investigate, among other matters, the prevalent societal stresses which are at the root of many psychological ailments associated with immigrant populations. Recipient, New Pioneers Award, Science and Technology, 1997, and currently President, Korean Canadian University Professors’ Forum, Dr. Samuel Noh, left, is recognized worldwide for his scholarly investigations into the mental health of immigrants and is in demand as a keynote speaker at international conferences, forums, symposia, and seminars. [Photo, courtesy Dr. Samuel Noh]